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Apple Server Blossoms with Telcos
Concord Camera Featured on MSNBC Tech Friday
Public Knowledge Demystifies Digital Rights Management
Five University of Northern Colorado Students Caught In RIAA John Doe Suits
Apple Delays Dualie Xserve G5 to April
Opera Browser To Recognise Speech
HP puts Linux on the desktop
New Zealand To 'Legalise CD Piracy' - Music Biz Whines
Taking On iPod - Lighter And Less Costly Minis Are Worth A Look
Wal-Mart Supports Macs With Handout CDs
Sun Microsystems, Inc. Applauds EC Microsoft Decision[/url]
Apple Server Blossoms with Telcos
internetnews.com's Michael Singer says:
"Apple Computer is continuing to infuse the IT community with its G5-based products, extending its tendrils into some sectors the company previously did not have traction in.
"Best known for its desktop systems, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker Tuesday began shipping single-processor configurations of its Xserve G5 server...
"While the Xserve has proved popular as a file and print server or as a Web server, Apple Director of Hardware Storage Alex Grossman told internetnews.com the G5 is gaining popularity on the edge of the network with content delivery providers and telecommunication companies....
"Apple is quietly making gains in server rooms and data centers and not just because the art department needs a G5. Improvements to the company's Xserve and Xserve RAID products as well as new networking software is allowing more companies to give Apple the eye....
"In addition to its new telco friends, Apple is wooing the scientific community with its new Apple Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics. The computing cluster software setup includes iNquiry, a 3rd-party bioinformatics package from The BioTeam. Installation and maintenance have also been greatly simplified so Apple said little or no IT support is required......"
For the full report, visit here:
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3330611
Concord Camera Featured on MSNBC Tech Friday
Concord Camera’s Go Wireless digital camera will be featured in MSNBC’s “The Future is Now: MSNBC Tech Summit 2004” on Friday, March 26, 9-11 PM EST on MSNBC.
You can read my full review of the Concord Eye-Q 3040 AF 3.1 megapixel digital camera here:
http://www.applelinks.com/pm/more.php?id=859_0_1_0_M42
For more info on Concord Camera, see:
http://www.concord-camera.com/
Digital Music: Apple Shouldn't Sing Solo
Businessweek's Alex Salkever says:
"With 50 million songs sold as of mid-March, 2004, Apple's iTunes Music Store (iTMS) owns more than half of the music-download business. Apple execs note proudly that the iPod now rakes in more than 50% of the total revenues in the digital-music-player sector. Macheads offer these numbers as proof that the music battle is over -- and that Steve Jobs has won.
Not so fast. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, fired a shot heard across the Internet on Mar. 24, with the launch of its own online music store, with 88-cent downloads -- 11 cents cheaper than Apple. If anything, this competition is just starting: Now-legitimate Napster has an online music service, Virgin is getting into the business, and Sony is set to enter later this year.....
"In this context, the fight over digital-music standards could be crucial to Apple's future. It has bet heavily on the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard, which it claims is a huge improvement over the older and much more popular MP3 standard. Apple has incorporated AAC as the primary standard in its iTunes software.
"So yet again, it's starting to look like Apple against the rest of the world.
"If Apple really wants to boost AAC, it would allow other device and software makers to license Apple's own FairPlay digital-rights-management (DRM) system.... Apple could still guide digital-music standards for years to come -- and create a more open, competitive marketplace that will ultimately benefit everyone -- except Microsoft."
For the full commentary, visit here:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc20040324_2586_tc056.htm
Public Knowledge Demystifies Digital Rights Management
Public Knowledge has published a comprehensive resource that makes understandable for everyone the increasingly complex and highly technical issue of digital rights management. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the term applied to technologies that prevent you from using a copyrighted digital work beyond the degree to which the copyright owner wishes to allow you to use it. The technologies can be applied to digital movies, television programs, books or music.
The 40-page primer, "What Every Citizen Should Know About DRM, a.k.a. Digital Rights Management was" written by Mike Godwin, senior technology counsel at Public Knowledge. Godwin is a veteran of Internet law, and the author of "Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age" (MIT Press, 2003).
"You should care [about DRM] because you have something personal at stake in both the balances built into our copyright law, and in the technologies, such as personal computers and the Internet, that might be restricted or controlled in order to protect copyright interests," Godwin writes in the publication.
The primer, produced in cooperation with the New America Foundation, has chapters on DRM and its relationship to copyright law; a technical explanation of how DRM works; a discussion whether DRM should be imposed by government; and the potential threats posed by DRM not only to copyrighted content, but to the technical design of the Internet.
In a concluding essay, Godwin argues for minimal government regulation of DRM, and for a DRM policy that includes a strong commitment to promoting and preserving the public domain.
A PDF version of the book is available for download at http://www.publicknowledge.org/content/overviews/citizens-guide-to-drm/view
Hard copies are available for $5.00.
More information available at:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/content/press-releases/press-release-2004-03-19
Five University of Northern Colorado Students Caught In RIAA John Doe Suits
The Register's Drew Cullen reports:
"Five students from the University of Northern Colorado have been caught up in the American music industry's sweep against music file swappers.
"In a letter to university president Kay Norton, Recording Industries Association of America president Cary Sherman said it was merely targeting the 'particular individuals on your network who have offered to give away hundreds of copyrighted music files to millions of anonymous strangers'."
Cary Sherman's letter is reproduced in the article.
You can check it out at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36506.html
Apple Delays Dualie Xserve G5 to April
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Apple will now not ship dual-CPU Xserve G5 servers until April, two months later than the company originally promised, it admitted this week.
"However, the Mac maker has now begun shipping the 1U rack-mount server's single-processor version."
"The first machines to roll off the production line may well have found their way to Virginia Tech, which is replacing its 1100-node dual-2GHz Power Mac G5 cluster, System X, with an equivalent number of Xserve G5 dualies.....
"Apple this week said that the US Centre for the Study of Brain, Mind and Behaviour at Princeton University had also decided to build an dualie Xserve G5-based cluster"
Full details at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/36491.html
Opera Browser To Recognise Speech
electricnews.net reports:
"Opera Software is to include IBM's embedded speech recognition technology ViaVoice in the next version of its Web browser.
"Web users will be able to navigate, request information and complete Web forms by speaking, which should offer added convenience as more users access the Web on smaller, mobile devices, Opera said....
"According to Opera, Web developers can add voice input and output to traditional HTML-based pages by using the XHTML+Voice (X+V) markup language. In a swipe at Microsoft, Opera said the technology could even let users replace PowerPoint: using the Opera Show presentation tool"
Sweet! Opera 7.50 public beta, which was released last week, is the first version of Opera that I've found appealing, and I find it REALLY appealing. Voice Recognition would be icing on what is alread shaping up to be a very yumy browser cake. The only provisional caveat is how much bloat speech recognition would add to the delightfully lean Opera package.
For the full report, visit here.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/36513.html
HP puts Linux on the desktop
The Register's John Oates reports:
"HP is recruiting Novell to help it get Linux running on corporate desktop and laptop computers. HP will offer business customers support and testing.
"Linux has made good progress in the server and data market but has had a harder job of getting onto desktop machines. The backing of such a major vendor will be a big boost.
"Microsoft, today facing a record fine from the EC, will be less pleased."
Ful details at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/36497.html
New Zealand To 'Legalise CD Piracy' - Music Biz Whines
Still with The Reg., Tony Smith reports on music biz pigopolists whinging and whining about proposals to change New Zealand's copyright laws would destroy its business by permitting one of the 'fair use' rights US (and Canadian) consumers already enjoy -- the right to duplicate the contents of a CD they've legally purchased onto backup media. Canadians also can legally download and copy music from the Internet for personal use (although uploading is illegal).
But according to the cynical Cassandras of big music, "the sky is falling; the sky is falling!"
Full report at:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36467.html
Taking On iPod - Lighter And Less Costly Minis Are Worth A Look
Businessweek's Larry Armstrong says:
"I like Apple's iPod as much as the next person. But face it, not everyone is thrilled with that touch-sensitive scroll wheel, and its battery life is almost worst-in-class. Why carry 10,000 songs in your pocket if you have to plug the player in every night to recharge it?
"With last month's launch of a scaled-down iPod mini, I took a look at the mini and its competition. These are players that can hold hundreds -- not thousands -- of songs on built-in, micro-hard-disk drives that store 1.5 or 4 gigabytes of compressed music files. They fill the gap between tiny, solid-state flash memory players that hold just a few albums and the more expensive 10-to-40-GB players, such as the original iPods, designed to store your entire music library. They sell at about $150 to $220; the iPod mini costs $250.
"My favorites? The 4-GB iPod mini was right up there. But I would rank almost as highly Rio's 1.5-GB Nitrus (it has a 4-GB version in the works), with its sophisticated software for transferring songs and playlists on your computer to the player. I also loved iRiver's very customizable iGP-100, with its FM radio and myriad of extras -- but only after I mastered the owner's manual...."
You can check it out at:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_13/b3876138_mz070.htm
Wal-Mart Supports Macs With Handout CDs
The MacMind's Jonahan notes:
"On campus at The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn. (duh), Wal-Mart circulated CD-ROMs in hopes of making them cooler to the generation stomping the scenic promenades on-campus there....
"I have to admit that Wal-Mart still has less class than a lot of stores but I have to give them some props on this well executed CD, even though it’s blatantly trying to get me into one of the local Super Wal-Marts.
"First off, this disc did something right for starters: it works in Mac OS X, OS 9, as well as the dozen Windows versions of recent years. It’s a slick Flash application. The disc says that it works on a Mac at 800MHz or higher with Mac OS X or OS 9 and 256MB RAM or more, it works superbly on my eMac 700 with 768MB RAM running OS X 10.3.2.
"I think of this as a great gesture, and I certainly think more about Wal-Mart..."
You can check it out here.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. Applauds EC Microsoft Decision
The following statement is attributable to Lee Patch, vice president, legal affairs, Sun Microsystems.
"Sun applauds the European Commission's decision in the Microsoft case -- this important, precedent-setting decision comes after more than four years of an exhaustive investigation with detailed and comprehensive submissions from both industry vendors and consumer groups, and a hearing held late last year in Brussels. This decision is important for consumers not only in Europe, but also for increased innovation and competition worldwide.
"The Commission found that Microsoft has abused its dominant position in desktop operating systems to create an unlawful advantage for itself in the work group server market. In particular the Commission found that Microsoft has not been competing on the merits, but instead used interoperability between its desktops and servers to override other factors of server performance offered by its competitors.
"By requiring Microsoft to make disclosures that will allow other servers to comparably interoperate with Microsoft desktops and servers, the Commission's decision seeks to create a level playing field in the work group server market place, enabling competitors to deliver work group servers that can fully interoperate and therefore compete on the merits. This is enormously significant for consumers and for the industry. For the first time in many years, IT managers will be able to choose from a variety of work group servers, confident that they will interoperate with Microsoft desktops. Because the decision is forward looking and covers future product releases, consumers can be confident that other work group server suppliers will be able to meet their needs even as Microsoft introduces new products.
"This decision is an important precedent for defining the principles of open competition not just for today, but for the future of a vibrant and vital worldwide IT industry. We look forward to participating in an exciting period of innovation that will deliver the tangible consumer benefits that derive from competition on the merits."
Source: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Charles W. Moore
Tags: iPod News ď
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The BusinessWeek article by Salkever is just one in a never ending stream of pontification by people who have no clue what business Apple is really in. Apple sells computers so they are in the computer business. Apple sells music so they are in the music business. Wrong and wrong. Apple is in the “cool things to do with digital electronics” business. That is what they have done from the very beginning. That was what “Think Different” was really all about. That even underlies what Pixar does. They are not in the computer business so they don’t need to worry about compromising their creativity just to increase market share. They are not in the music business so they don’t need to open their hardware or software to increase market share. The iPod can be copied and commiditized, just like the Apple II and Mac before it, but it will be a successful product for Apple so long as it is the coolest player on the block. After that, Apple will come up with something else new and exciting and in demand. So long as they keep doing that, they will remain in business. Their misguided attempt to get into the “computer business” in the 90s nearly did them in. Their return to their core business under Steve Jobs, and the power of the Apple brand (coolest “x” on the planet) are only sustained by focusing on creativity rather than market surveys. Judging by recent awards, Apple probably owns 50% or more of the “cool things to do with digital electronics” market - tremendous success by all but monopoly standards. I for one am glad there is an Apple and hope they never listen to “business” pundits (again).